LACTOS founder and cheese-maker Milan Vyhnalek has passed away. The Czech migrant died on March 3 in the Czech Republic, aged 87.﻿ After a failed attempt to begin cheese-making at Marrawah in the early 1950s, because of opposition from butter factories, Mr Vyhnalek started production in Burnie in 1955. He soon realised there was a ready market for specialty ﻿cheeses from the new migrant population and built Lactos into the largest manufacturer of these cheeses in Australia. The Czech migrant sold his company in 1980, but will always be remembered as our own pioneer of cheese-making.